Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Crucian Carp Soup
Zhang Deshuang had wanted to ask for a long time, but Zhou Guilan had not recovered well before, so he had been holding back.
"I hid in the mountains for several months to avoid the Japanese invaders. When I came down the mountain safely, I was lost. There were wars everywhere in those years, and I couldn't find anyone to ask for directions. In order to avoid the war, I kept going deep into the mountains and didn't dare to go on the main road. After a few years, I don't know what happened, but my mind started to get confused."
At first she still remembered that she wanted to find her son and husband, but gradually she forgot about it.
When she was conscious, she remembered going down the mountain, and when her mind became confused, she returned to the mountain.
She kept doing this over and over again. When there was nothing to eat in the mountains, she would dig wild vegetables. Fortunately, although her mind was confused, her instincts were still there.
As her mind became more and more confused, she finally remembered nothing, not even how she wandered to Xiangyang Village.
It was not until Zhang Deshuang found her that Zhou Guilan finally came to her senses.
"So, even though the eldest wife was confused, she still relied on her instincts and spent thirty years returning to her hometown from the north."
Zhang Mengzhi admired this woman so much. Even though she clearly didn't remember anything, she still stumbled back to her hometown just to find her child.
"Mom, you've worked hard."
Zhang Deshuang hugged his mother and cried bitterly.
Even though he felt sad in Xiangyang Village, he was too embarrassed to cry out loud because of concerns.
He couldn't care less about so many things now. He just wanted to have a good cry for his mother who had suffered for half her life.
"De Shuang, Mom is fine, don't cry."
Zhou Guilan used her calloused hands to gently wipe away the tears from her son's face.
"Mom, I am unfilial and failed to find you earlier."
Zhang Deshuang felt particularly regretful. If she had found her mother earlier, she wouldn't have had to suffer so much.
"I don't even know where I am, how are you going to find me?"
There was no trace of complaint on Zhou Guilan's face. She just felt sorry for the child who had been living without a mother for decades.
She has never mentioned her husband since she woke up. Perhaps she has long understood what kind of person her husband is and that it is impossible for him to remain chaste for a missing wife.
"mother……"
Zhang De moved his lips, but finally said nothing.
"No more talking, mom is back, I'll be here for you from now on!"
Zhou Guilan's eyes were full of understanding.
Zhang Mengzhi looked at her eldest wife who seemed to know everything, and couldn't help but sigh that she was indeed a smart woman.
“Mother~Mother…”
Zhang Deshuang just hugged his mother and cried.
Seeing this, the others quietly left the room, and even the two children were taken out.
"Mom, I'll go get some food. Grandma is weak, so please be careful with what you eat."
After Zhang Mengzhi walked out of the main room, he said to his mother.
"You go ahead, I'll look after the two children."
Holding the hands of her two grandchildren, Mother Zhang said to her son.
"yes."
Zhang Mengzhi touched his nephews' heads and walked into the kitchen as they expected.
It was hot now, so the family didn't dare to buy too much meat. Because they didn't know when they would be back, the Zhang family didn't buy any meat today.
It just so happened that the eldest wife couldn't eat meat either, so Zhang Mengzhi took a winnowing basket to the small vegetable garden and picked some vegetables to take back.
After a whole day of driving, no one had much appetite.
So Zhang Mengzhi cooked a pot of corn porridge.
Put the washed rice into the pot, add appropriate amount of water into the pot, light the fire and bring to a boil. Stir it with a spoon after boiling, cook for another ten minutes, add the peeled corn kernels and continue to cook.
After a while, the aroma of corn mixed with rice soup seeped out.
In the hot summer, Zhang Mengzhi eats two big bowls of corn porridge without any side dishes.
While cooking the corn porridge, Zhang Mengzhi began to prepare the side dishes.
First take out a handful of pea vermicelli, boil water in an iron pot and cook the vermicelli but not too soft.
Wait until there is no white core in the middle of the vermicelli, scoop it out and rinse it with cold water, then put it in a dustpan and set it aside.
In addition to vermicelli, he also steamed eggplant and boiled green beans.
By the way, I also fried some bitter gourd and eggs. I boiled the picked green peppers in the porridge, crushed them with a stone ladle, and added a little salt to make it a great dish to go with rice.
I smashed the garlic, cut the onions, and minced some ginger, and put some on the pea vermicelli, steamed eggplant, and boiled green beans.
Then add salt, sugar, pepper powder, soy sauce and a little vinegar, and finally take out the red oil and pour it on top. The cold dish is ready.
Drinking porridge with these in summer is really appetizing.
At least Zhou Guilan liked it very much. Considering that her intestines tasted not very good, the red oil used was non-spicy, and Zhang Mengzhi did not put much.
“This is delicious.”
While eating, Zhou Guilan sat in a high seat and pointed at the cold vermicelli.
"The vermicelli we use here are all pea vermicelli, which is very different from vermicelli in other places. I always feel that the vermicelli they make there don't taste like this, and are far inferior to our vermicelli here."
As she said that, she picked up another piece of food with her chopsticks. It seemed that she really liked it!
"If my wife likes it, I'll continue to do it tomorrow."
Seeing that she kept pinching, Zhang Mengzhi quickly stopped her.
"Okay, I won't eat anymore."
Zhou Guilan, who had already had a full stomach, put down her chopsticks regretfully. She really liked this cold vermicelli dish.
Of course the other dishes are delicious too, but she particularly likes the cold-mixed vermicelli.
"Grandma will take a rest and then take a bath. The bath water is heating in the pot. If Grandma is inconvenient, you can ask my mother to help."
Zhang Mengzhi helped the old lady sit on the wooden chair on the other side, and then said.
"Okay, I get it. Go back and continue eating. Don't worry about me."
Zhou Guilan waved at him and said nonchalantly.
She only drank a bowl of porridge and ate some vermicelli and was full. Her appetite was completely different from when she was young.
Yes, when she was young, her appetite was no less than men. She could even carry many things that men could not, so her appetite was naturally not small.
"good."
Zhang Mengzhi didn't try to persuade her much, believing that his wife knew what was going on, and went back to the table to eat.
"Brother, peel the eggs for Xiaoyu. If he peels them by himself later, they will be full of holes and he won't be able to eat them." "Okay."
Zhang Mengzhi picked up a boiled egg and started peeling it.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Zhang's mother supported Zhou Guilan and took Zhang Deshuang straight to the hospital.
After the doctor's examination, it was found that Zhou Guilan was indeed in poor health.
She has not been eating well or sleeping well for so many years, and her body is very weak. I dare not prescribe medicine for her. I can only let her eat better and use food to supplement her body so that she can feel better. It will not be too late to use medicine then.
As for Zhang Mengzhi's feeding her first wife light food, even the doctor praised it.
Zhou Guilan's body is now leaking air all over and she cannot be replenished at all.
Although the dietary therapy takes a long time to take effect, it is just right for Zhou Guilan.
After a while, the doctor examined her and thought it was okay for her to take medicine. He prescribed some medicine for Zhou Guilan to take, otherwise she would not be able to eat the medicine and would vomit.
We queued for an hour, but the inspection took less than half an hour. Besides some instructions, we went in empty-handed and came out empty-handed.
"Look, the doctor said I'm fine, so don't worry."
The eldest wife comforted her son who looked unhappy. She was quite satisfied with the results of the examination. At least it could support her to go to the capital to see her eldest son. Now she didn't know how Decheng was doing.
Although the younger son said that the older son was doing well, I would never believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes.
Zhou Guilan also attended a girls' school. She was literate and had a certain level of cultural knowledge, so she believed her own eyes on many things instead of just listening to what others said.
"Mom, how can you be okay? You are too weak to be nourished. You need to take good care of yourself."
Zhang Deshuang was extremely worried. The doctor's refusal to prescribe medicine did not mean that there was nothing wrong with his mother's health, but that the problem was too serious and he did not dare to prescribe medicine easily.
You have to take good care of your body first before you can take the right medicine.
“It’s already very good!”
Zhou Guilan herself was not as worried as her son, she was very open-minded.
Being able to reunite with her son before she died, she had no regrets in her life.
"Auntie, let's go back first!"
Mother Zhang supported her and said, "Mengzhi went to the market to buy vegetables early in the morning. She said she would buy a chicken and stew it for you today to nourish Auntie."
She can eat some of the chicken if it is not greasy, and she can remove the fat from the soup when drinking it. Even Zhou Guilan can drink some.
In addition to chicken, fish is also suitable for Zhou Guilan to eat, but fish is harder to buy than chicken. Because unlike the future generations, there are no special fish farms. Now the fish are caught in the river, and whether there is anyone to buy depends on luck.
Fortunately, Zhang Mengzhi was lucky. In addition to buying a chicken, he also bought a few crucian carps to make soup.
There was no one to help kill the fish at that time, so Zhang Mengzhi bought the fish and killed it himself.
First scrape off the fish scales, then cut open the fish belly and take out the internal organs and gallbladder.
Crucian carps are not big, so Zhang Mengzhi didn’t knock them unconscious when killing them, but killed them alive.
Wash the killed fish, shake off the water and fry it in oil until both sides are golden brown. Add scallions and ginger, pour boiling water on it, bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer.
The final fish soup is milky white. Add tofu and stew for another half an hour before serving.
He removed all the fat. Although there were many bones, the fish meat was not greasy. With her son serving her, Zhou Guilan drank the soup while eating the fish.
"The fish is delicious, and the soup is tasty too. I didn't expect our Meng Zhi to be such a good cook, the first in the Zhang family!"
As a daughter-in-law of the Zhang family for more than ten years, Zhou Guilan is very familiar with the cooking skills of the Zhang family.
Apart from the daughters-in-law who married into the family, few have good skills.
"Mengzhi accepts the compliment from the eldest wife. Second father, dinner will be served soon."
Zhang Mengzhi came in with a bowl of stir-fried pork with green peppers. Seeing that his second father and eldest wife were still drinking fish soup, he quickly spoke.
"good."
Seeing that his mother had almost finished eating, Zhang Deshuang picked out the remaining fish meat and gave it to her, and threw the fish bones into the trash can.
"Mom, have some rice later."
Zhang Deshuang looked at the five dishes on the table, three vegetarian dishes and two meat dishes. In addition to the fried shredded pork, there was also a dish of pork with mashed garlic.
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